2017-06-19 Sailing both ways at Bob's Beach

Twelve Grueling Hours at Bob's Beach

I got up at about 7:15 and had a shower.  When I got out of the shower, I turned on my phone and texts from Gerry and Kent.  Gerry was already at Bob's Beach - the wind was 31mph.  Kent's said he had left at 7:11.  The rush was on.

I stopped at MacDonalds for an Egg McMuffin and then drove to Bob's Beach.  I arrived at about 8:00am.  I think I was the last to arrive - except for Ross, who told us he was sleeping in and that he would Kite off the bridge in the corridor.  Apparently, he had a great day on his 9m kite.  Sorry - no photos.

Looking for Gerry

When I got to Stevenson, a few blocks from the beach, I passed Jim, Kent and Harold - on their way to rescue Gerry.   When I got to the beach, Blaine and Brad were standing on the top of a picnic table with their binoculars watching Gerry who was walking back down by the island.  Apparently, he had declared confidently, before heading out on his 4.8 sail, that he had never had to do the walk of shame at Bob's Beach.  He got planing for about 20m, but persevered out to the wind line, which turned out to be a current line and was promptly flushed down to the island...  Gerry decided to just walk back, rather than risking his rig climbing over the rocks and across the tracks.  When he got back, he told us that the walk had been a lot of fun - kind of like grinding up a big hill on a mountain bike.

Brad - made it back - just.....

Brad was the next wind dummy.  He headed out on his 5.6m sail.  He got planing and headed upwind and up-current.  About half way across the river, he started slogging.  Still pointing upwind, the current dragged him back down the river.  He made it back with a nice gust on the way home, but barely.  He loosened his outhaul and told us that the wind was good on this side of the river and not to sail on the far side.  He then headed out - did even better than the last time for the first half of the river and then ran out of wind in the same place.  We all expected him to jibe and return in the wind, but for some reason kept on going to the far side and lost even more ground than the last reach. There was no wind on the way back - so he ended up at the island for a repeat of Gerry's walk.

Brad - enjoying his walk and thinking about the lack of wind on the far side.

Al was our third walker.  Al has to leave tomorrow, so was understandably eager to get out.  He took out a 6.5m sail and big board.  He got planing, but then slogged.  He had the biggest walk of all - ending up on the far side of the island.

Al - Making it work!

Al - oops - a long walk ahead....

There were more attempts, but Cynthia probably did the best - being the lightest.   Harold went out, but sailed/slogged back and forth close to shore - staying on the shore side of the current line.

Cynthia

Kent, Harold, Blaine and Cam - watching the excitement!

At around 11:00 the wind started to shift West.  We went up to the Crossing Bistro for Panini's and Lemonade for lunch - our favorite spot in Stevenson for lunch.  The wind continued to pick up and by 1:00pm just about everyone was out.  First on big sails (6.6m Sails, and then smaller sails - 4.8 and 5.6 sails.

The Crossing - best Paninis lemonade in town!

Kent - sailed everything - from his foil to his 5.6m

I went and helped Cam launch his 12m Kite.  The kite launch at Stevenson is tricky but better in a westerly than in easterly wind.  Cam had a great sail - getting marginally overpowered by the time he came in.  He is on a directional board, and is enjoying doing repeated S turns.

Cam had fun, but wouldn't come close enough for a decent photo....

Cam was stoked - great day kiting!

By the end of the day, the beach was littered with sails.  Most had used two or three sails and a couple of boards.  When I got back from launching Cam, I got out on my 6.6 and Nash board, and had the best jibe of the trip.

Drying our riggs.....

We sailed until about 5:30   Gerry was the last off the water.  He had been trying to hit 50 miles of sailing (as measured on his GPS watch, but the wind started to die so he came in with only 46 miles, although he commented later that if you counted his walk, he would be very close to his goal.

Blaine, Rene and Kent - Great day!

Rene needed to eat (Right Now), so Kent and Rene headed off.  The rest of us sat in the sun telling stories while we waited for our rigs to dry.  It was almost 8:00 by the time we packed up and headed home.

We decided on Mexican for supper, but then Jim, Cam and Cynthia decided to do their own thing. The Mexican was excellent as usual.

We met up with Ross and Kent again after supper at the Condo.  Ross told us about his day, and then we watched some Sailboat Racing Crashes.  Ross is very keen on sailboat sailing since his cross-Atlantic trip this spring.

It was late - 10:30 - by the time we headed to bed.

Al - enjoyed his last day and had some good sailing!